MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Thank you, Deputy President. Having a long history, Chinese medicine is deeply trusted by the people. Apart from Chinese people who are used to adopting Chinese medicine to treat illnesses, Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, has also extensively spread to places around the world. With the country’s vigorous development over the past few decades, Chinese medicine, which has become fully scientific and modernized, has been proven highly effective in disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
I thank Prof CHAN Wing-kwong for proposing today’s motion. The development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong has started late and progressed slowly. It has become an urgent task for Hong Kong to promote the development of Chinese medicine, especially since members of the public already understand the importance of Chinese medicine after learning a lesson from the three-year fight against the epidemic. Currently, the Government has created the post of Commissioner for Chinese Medicine Development to strengthen the development of Chinese medicine and policy coordination. The next step will be the formulation of the blueprint for the development of Chinese medicine.
As a matter of fact, the Government has made great efforts to promote the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong, including the establishment of the first Chinese medicine hospital. The hospital will become Hong Kong’s flagship institution for Chinese medicine and play an important role in leading the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. In addition, to promote the development of primary healthcare, the Government will increase the annual quota of government-subsidized Chinese medicine outpatient services in the 18 Chinese Medicine Clinics from 600 000 to 800 000. At the same time, the Hospital Authority will expand the integrated Chinese-Western medicine services which are mainly focused on stroke and cancer treatment.
Hence, there will be more opportunities for the Chinese medicine sector to make big strides in the future. I understand that all Chinese medicine practitioners are well-trained. Now that there is the opportunity to showcase their skills while they have the ability to lead the flagship Chinese medicine hospital in the sector, they should seize the opportunity to promote the development of Chinese medicine and strive for the trust of the public. In fact, clinical treatment of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong has not been as fully developed as in the Mainland. During the fight against the epidemic, the Central Government had sent Chinese medicine experts to Hong Kong. The experts pointed out directly that Chinese medicine in Hong Kong was still confined to treating basic diseases. Despite the excellent treatment efficacy, comprehensive development of Chinese medicine was yet to be promoted. The people’s impression of Chinese medicine was that it could only treat minor illnesses. Certainly, the experts would understand that Chinese medicine is constrained by the system in Hong Kong. It is not that Chinese medicine practitioners in Hong Kong have not made enough efforts.
Now the Government is removing the barriers and restrictions to provide more development opportunities and platforms for the Chinese medicine sector. Hence, Chinese medicine practitioners should demonstrate their strengths and actively participate in more specialist treatment and collaboration between Chinese and Western medicine. The Government should conduct further studies to provide more room for the development of Chinese medicine, including facilitating Chinese medicine specialization development and industrialization, granting the power to make referrals and conduct tests, progressively setting up a Chinese medicine department in public hospitals, and increasing subsidies for public Chinese medicine services.
Now the country has already established a comprehensive system for the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, and Chinese medicine practitioners have been engaged in various types of specialist treatment with remarkable achievements. The Chinese medicine sector in Hong Kong should strive for self-improvement as well. There is a view that Hong Kong should draw reference from the country’s practice, but there is no need to copy everything. Instead, Hong Kong should develop its own mode of operation in the light of the actual situation. For example, Chinese and Western medicine can work in parallel with equal importance, but the relationship between the two is mutual cooperation and collaboration, rather than being mixed together by force. Such an approach will better suit Hong Kong’s actual situation and be more acceptable to the public. It will be more conducive to tapping the global market, especially for the development of Chinese medicine. At present, there are three Schools of Chinese Medicine with extremely strong scientific research capability and a world-class Chinese medicines testing institute in Hong Kong. Being on par with the international standard, they give Hong Kong great advantages in promoting the development of Chinese medicines in the international market. Hence, Hong Kong should move towards the goal of industrialization and internationalization of Chinese medicines.
Besides, some members of the Chinese medicine sector and political parties consider that the insurance coverage for Chinese medicine healthcare expenses should be expanded, and the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme should take the lead to cover Chinese medicine. As a representative of the insurance sector, I agree that the status of Chinese medicine should be raised, and I support in principle the provision of higher compensation for Chinese medicine healthcare. I believe that as the Government promotes the development of Chinese medicine, the Government and the insurance sector will certainly look into the relevant issues in greater depth. At the same time, it is expected that an increasing number of people will take out insurance policies covering more Chinese medicine healthcare, which will naturally lead to the launch of more related health insurance products in the market.
Thank you, President.